Kensaku the Architect
Kensaku the Architect (建師ケン作 Kenshi Kensaku) is a shonen manga by Fujio Akatsuka and Fujio Pro, serialized in Weekly Shonen Magazine through 1977. Overview The hot-blooded young architect named Kensaku declares himself to be a master at carpentry, but is challenged by the older, more experienced rival craftsman Seigen Ogasawara. Kensaku must put his skills to the test in seeing if he can successfully build a house that'll outmatch Seigen's plan, and one that'd truly be a dream home. The "Kensaku" concept came about as a suggestion of Akatsuka's Weekly Shonen Magazine editor Takao Igarashi, in which Akatsuka would take a backseat to full writing duty, instead adapting the works of others or simply drawing out the plots that another author had in mind. In this case, the novelist Jiro Gyu would be responsible for the scripting and concept of the series. It is thus an atypical work for this period of Akatsuka's career, as it is more about architecture and driven by its set and grounded plot, than being focused on comedy or more surrealist happenings. Though Akatsuka did illustrate the first chapter and had assistance from Akira Saito, this work soon became known for having no involvement from him at all and the "Fujio Akatsuka and Fujio Pro" labeling being a bit erroneous. This was due to the clash in views between Gyu and Akatsuka as to what the series was to truly be about: Akatsuka had wanted more of a focus on Kensaku's family and the plight of his salaryman father, with the family struggling to make ends meet until they could finally achieve their dream home. In Akatsuka's own pitch, he summed up the plans as "Let's make a large-scale story, where the sky is our roof and the Earth is our tatami mat". Instead, Gyu insisted that the driving factor of the series would be Kensaku's rivalry against Ogasawara, and a smaller-scale focus with a lack of detail on the Miyako family. After that disagreement, Akatsuka lost motivation to draw or handle any further part of the feature and handed over the full art duties to Saito. After the short-lived run of Kensaku and its poor performance in the magazine, two later Akatsuka-adapted works would be serialized in Weekly Shonen Magazine through 1978; Wonderful Fool and House Jack Nana-chan. These too would fail to catch on well with readers, and would spell the end of his time doing features for the publication. Characters Besides the existing characters, there is usage of Akatsuka's Star System throughout the title, particulary in crowd scenes and in explanations of constructing buildings. Nyarome and Bakabon's Papa also appear as fictional characters within the context of the story as well, being seen on TV or objects. Kensaku Miyako (都ケン作, also shown with the kanji notation of 健作) Our protagonist, a tall and somewhat impulsive, reckless junior high student. He lives in a small home with his family downtown, but goes to work as an apprentice at an architecture company. His guts and determination leads to him being ordered to construct a successful 2DK home, though he is initally set back some. He manages to put together a large home that initially doesn't seem to be as well-liked as Seigen's typical style building, but that holds up well against an earthquake due to the fact it's mounted into the ground and supported by a large mast. With being the victor, Kensaku is the one brought along to set up new homes. Koichi Tsubuki (津吹孝一 ) A master gymnast, who is shown performing his balancing act as the first member of the cast we see in the series. His act and the news reporting around him is interrupted by Kensaku's first impassioned bragging of his skill. Koichi later shows up to side with Kensaku and assist him in his first home-building project. Together with Izutsu, Koichi and Kensaku form a formidable trio. However, once Kensaku succeeds in his first project, Koichi departs the story for a while as the plot shifts to take Kensaku elsewhere in his mission. He returns for the final chapter, as Kensaku sets out to work on another new project. Tsutomu Izutsu An older co-worker of Kensaku, who hits and scolds him for making an embarrassment on national TV with his foolishness, but supports and backs him up during his budding rivalry with Seigen. He and Ogawa-san continue to oversee Kensaku's home-building through the series, as Kensaku figures out more techniques to keep improving his craft. Seigen Ogasawara (小笠原清源) A master craftsman at the company. He is a tall, menacing figure with heavily lined eyes and prominent cheekbones. He decides to call Kensaku's bluff and see if the boy can truly outmatch his expert skill, though he is incredibly speedy in his work. Seigen announces his grand goal of building the best 2DK home, leaving Kensaku to challenge him further during their press-attended build-off. He has Kensaku's foundation-building sabotaged, leading to him getting more of an advantage, to where he has his house already constructed a month later until Kensaku brings out an even bigger building. Seigen departs the series after his defeat, though his influence leaves a large shadow and shows that he's only the first rival or obstacle that Kensaku has faced. Ogata-san (尾形) The middle-aged man who oversees the work and tries to mediate the conflict between Seigen and Kensaku, but his company soon becomes involved in a greater plan to test the skills of both men. Kensaku's Family Kensaku is shown to live in a small apartment with his parents, grandmother, and three younger siblings; a brother and two sisters (though only one sister is initially shown). Kensaku's father is angered and resistant to his son's idea at first, but is made to relent after his pleading. Eiichi-kun A bratty young boy in a story-arc set in a later portion of the series. He is ignored by his parents at home and comes to see Kensaku as an older brother figure. Kensaku's presence ultimately helps mend their strained relationship, and he helps set them up with a better place to live. Serialization *Weekly Shonen Magazine: #2-31 In reprints, some chapters are arranged differently compared to the magazine serialization (mainly with some multi-parters being merged together), and some frontispieces are discarded or moved to the wrong chapters. Chapters: * 1. "A Comparison Between a Carpenter's Will and Profession" (鳶職と大工の意地くらべ, #2) * 2. "Secret of a Quick Strike" (早打ち玄翁の秘密, #3-4 and #5-6 merger issues) * 3. "A Year is a Decade" (鉋一丁年季は十年, #5-6 merger issue and #7) * 4. "Season Game of Ogasawara vs. Kensaku" (小笠原対ケン作の施主勝負, #7 and #8) * 5. "Kensaku's Great Game" (ケン作大勝負, #9) * 6. "Big Blueprint" '(どでかい設計図, #10) * 7. '"The Craftsman Tsubuki Has Come" (鳶職津吹がやってきた, #10 and #11) * 8. "Evaporation of Construction Work" (建作の蒸発, #12) * 9. "Secret of the Method of Construction" (工法の秘密, #13) * 10. "An Overnight Miracle" (一夜の奇跡, issues #14 to #16) * 11. "Earthquake Judgment" (地震の判定, #17) * 12. "Construction Method of Soil and Water" '(土と水のエ法, #18 to #20) * 13. '"The Pride of a Craftsman" (職人の誇り, #20) * 14. "What is My Home!" '(マイホームって何だ！, #21) * 15. "'The Guy who Broke the Window Glass" (窓ガラスを割った奴, #22) * 16. "Kagikko Eiichi" (カギッ子英一, #23) * 17'."My Home for Eiichi"' (英一のマイホーム, #24) * 18. "Let's Go to the Housing Center" (ハウジングセンターへ行こう, #25) * 19. "Sakichi's Variety of Fleas" '(異形ノミの佐吉, #26) * 20. "'Sakichi's Flea Secret" (佐吉のノミのヒミツ, #27) * 21. "The True Character of Ogasawara" (小笠原の正体, #28) * 22. "Electrician Ichamon" (電気屋のイチャモン, #29) * 23. "Nail Match Game" (釘打ち勝負, #30) * 24. "Foundation Pillar" (通し柱, #31) Reprints *Futabasha: 3 volumes in the "Power Comics" line *Shogakukan: The Power Comics volumes were digitized for the Fujio Akatsuka Complete Works DVD-ROM set, and a print-on-demand version was later put out through ComicPark. External Links * Kensaku write-up at the Fujio Akatsuka Preservation Society (Japanese) Category:Manga Category:1970s works Category:Works serialized in Weekly Shonen Magazine